


The Last Ländler In Austria

by accio_spaceman



Category: The Sound of Music - Rodgers/Hammerstein/Lindsay & Crouse
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Ländler, set during the lead up to the ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_spaceman/pseuds/accio_spaceman
Summary: Following a discussion about the music for the ball, the children ask Maria to teach them the Ländler.
Relationships: Elsa Schraeder/Georg von Trapp, Georg von Trapp/Maria von Trapp
Kudos: 21





	The Last Ländler In Austria

The discussion at dinner that evening had been entirely concentrated on choosing the set list for the party. Since Max had suggested hosting a ball last week, it seemed like all they had discussed at all. Georg hadn’t remembered his previous parties requiring quite so much admin before hand – but then that had always been Agathe’s forte. His ponderings were broken off by Elsa’s hand grasping his forearm.

“Oh, Georg, how about the Ländler?” she suggested, her sickly sweet voice hanging heavily in the air.

“Oh, I’m not sure-”

“-Oh yes, we simply must have the Ländler! Oh, please, Captain, we must!” Maria’s voice broke over his protest like a breeze through an open window.

“The Liend- what?” Brigitta scrunched her nose as she attempted to imitate their pronunciation.

“The Ländler – you mean to tell me you don’t even know… What have your governesses been teaching you?!”

“Maths.” Marta wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“And reading!” Louisa’s forehead crinkled.

Brigitta hit her on the arm with the book she had been concealing under the folds of her skirt.

“Brigitta-!”

“Ah-!”

The Captain and Maria began to admonish simultaneously. They stopped short in their tracks, looking at each other, blushing deeply.

After a few more false starts, the Captain decided to forgo words, instead simply holding his hand out in front of him for Brigitta to pass the book to him.

After dinner, Maria returned from putting the youngest three children to bed – Brigitta still sulking slightly about the confiscation of her book – to find the elder four still buzzing with effervescent excitement for the upcoming celebrations. She was meant to be fetching them up to bed too, but Maria paused moment in the doorway to watch them, enchanted by the carefree melodies they now sang so easily.

Kurt caught sight of her first.

“Fräulein Maria, what was that song you asked Father to include for the party?”

“Which- Oh, you mean the Ländler!” She exclaimed, coming into the room.

She was surprised he had remembered that, the moment had passed so briefly in a discussion full of unfamiliar titles.

“It’s not a song exactly, there are no words – it’s a dance! How to describe… It’s a traditional partner dance. I’m not sure my playing could do it justice though!”

She picked up her guitar from where it was resting against the sofa and strummed the first few notes, before pausing to adjust the tuning; but to her surprise the tune continued. Looking up, she saw Leisl perched on the end of the sofa, swaying slightly as she hummed. After a few bars, Friedrich hesitantly joined in, hitting only a few wrong notes along the way.

Delighted, Maria picked up where they had got to, and joined them on her guitar. Leisl opened her eyes, a beam of delight breaking through her frowning concentration.

Maria could wait no longer.

“You do know it!”

“Not _know_ it exactly…”

“We used to sneak out of bed and watch the parties from behind the bannister.” Leisl confessed. “This was always one of my favourites, the skirts looked so pretty swirling around.”

“I liked the clapping.” Friedrich grinned.

“The clapping that got us caught two parties in a row!” Liesl sat up indignantly.

“Ah, ah!” Maria warned them not to start arguing.

Liesel settled back onto her ankles.

“But we never learnt the steps.”

“Well, then I’ll have to teach you! I’ll teach all of you, come on!”

“All of us?” Friedrich asked doubtfully, hanging back as his siblings jumped to their feet excitedly.

“Yes, all of you! Come on, Liesl needs a partner too! Now, first, we start by greeting each other. Liesl, Louisa, you curtsy; Friedrich, Kurt, you two bow – that’s it! Now, take a step towards each other and take your partner into hold, like so. That’s it, perfect! Are you sure you haven’t done this before, Liesl?” ~~~~

“Well, we might have tried once or twice in the nursery.”

“But we kept bumping into Louisa’s cot-” Friedrich glared at his younger sister.

“-and then she’d cry and the governess would come running-”

“-and we could never quite work out where your arms were supposed to go!”

“Well, not to worry. Now, I’ll have to see if I can remember it all, I haven’t danced in so long!”

The night of the party, Maria remembered far more of the Ländler than she had taught the children.

Perhaps Georg – no, the _Captain_ – had helped to jog her memory. Or perhaps she just got so caught up in the dancing that she forgot to think about it, and just let her feet do the remembering.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Amy, ([imnotacommittee on Tumblr,](https://imnotacommittee.tumblr.com)) for the conversation which got me thinking about this wonderful family again.


End file.
